Unite members angry at company threat to terminate recognition agreement

September 29th: Trade union Unite – which represents pilots working for CityJet – today reiterated its call for the company to agree to the WRC referring the pay issues at dispute to the Labour Court. Unite members voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action on foot of the company’s refusal to allow the dispute to be referred to the Labour Court, contrary to the terms of the company-union agreement, and have been engaged in limited industrial action since Friday September 23rd. Commenting, Unite Regional Officer Willie Quigley said:

“CityJet have refused to allow the WRC to refer the issues at dispute to the Labour Court, contrary to an agreement concluded between Unite and CityJet obliging them to attend the Labour Court. The company is now compounding that refusal by threatening to terminate their agreement with Unite in respect of pilot representation. This threat, if carried out, would amount to a denial of our members’ right to collective representation by the union of their choice.

“The overwhelming vote for industrial action reflected our members’ anger at the company’s behaviour. The limited industrial action which started this week involves our members refusing to accept roster changes within 14 days of roster date, and declining to interact with the company while off-duty. This action will continue until our members decide to escalate or otherwise.

“I would urge CityJet to allow our pay dispute to be referred to the Labour Court, and to withdraw its threat to terminate the agreement between Unite and the company”, Willie Quigley said.